The invention relates to a hand-held control unit for generating control signals for a display screen-oriented computer game, said control unit comprising:
a housing with a front side; PA1 a set of control members lying generally flush with said front side for through actuating thereof, controlling actions of in-game display items; PA1 output means for communicating representative signals of said actuating to said computer, PA1 for controlling display screen means for displaying said actions within said game. A control unit of this kind has been disclosed in EP 679 986 A1 to SEGA Enterprises. Such a game can be played with one or more persons, and the display is generally of the raster scan type. Alternatively, a preconfigured LCD screen can be used. The game is often merchandised on an appropriate medium, such as a tape cartridge, a floppy disc, or a CD-I or CD-ROM optical disc. Another possibility is to load the game from a distant source, such as by broadcast or cable means. Typical games depend on the skill of players to dynamically control items that move in the game, or to solve logical problems that are posed explicitly or implicitly. The platform for playing the game can for example be a CD-I or CD-ROM machine or a personal computer, that can interface to the control unit, which may have a particular shape that is ergonomically feasible. Various such units are being marketed, although also keyboards of the Querty or similar type are being used. In case of a preconfigured LCD screen, present day games usually have all control members integrated with the display in a single housing.
The present inventor has recognized the uniformity of the control units in that they do not depend on the actual game, although they may strongly depend on the type of platform. Other control units may be specific for a whole category of games, such as a control unit for aeroplane-related games that comes with a joystick, or a control unit for a racing car-related game, that comes with a steering wheel. Generally, the control units considered by the present invention are of a more elementary character, however. Generally, for a particular platform, a limited set of control members such as buttons, may have widely varying functions over respective games. In consequence, making the control units game-specific would let users, in particular children of pre-school or kindergarten age that cannot read, more easily recognize the functions that a particular control unit may have for controlling the characters or other items of the associated game.